Net Boat, May
2013, Stem
Repair and
Planking

I
have all the frames in and for the most part they are faired and ready
for planking.

Now, I have tackled the lower stem and forward
keel section.

In the last blog I removed the rotted sections of the
forward keel and replaced it with a solid piece that is epoxied and
bolted in place; the process will be repeated with the stem and knee.

Here’s
the stem starting off. There
is plenty of rot and missing wood.

The traingular section
missing waspart of the knee.

I have set up a piece
of plywood to guide the circular saw to start the stemoplasty, sort of
speak.

After
lopping off the the bad wood I flattened the section with a combination
of power planer, right angle grinder and belt
sander.

Would
have been nice if I could have gotten the old bolts
out.

Kept
it flat and square by frequently checking with a straight
edge.

I figure any deviation from
perfect will be compensated
by the epoxy.

With
the nose cleaned up nice and flat I affixed the blank prepared
earlier.

Using
a thickened epoxy, lag bolts and clamps the
blank fit nicely and cured up for the next stepI
used screws to hold the template in place to perform the initial
shaping from the stem to the keel.

After
shaping the side profile I shaped the forward most section.

Not
shown in the photos is the template I fastened from the top of the new
section to the keel which held the shape of the forward edge of the
stem.

Using the power planer and belt sander the front
profile was shaped.
Here
it is shaped up and ready for a few more bolts to share the
loads.

I have collected an arsenal of power tools that make
this work bearable while working full time.

There
are a number of opinions about gluing up white oak, especially with
epoxy.

There are the cons and pros for this but I will go
with it.

I try to hedge my bet with a dovetail feature on the
joints.

Before the glue up I use a dovetail cutter in a trim
router and run several grooves in the mating surfaces.

During
the glue up I fill all the groves with epoxy and a generous amount for
the remainder of the joint.

The clamp up is just enough to get a bit of
squeeze out without starving the joint.

The
dovetails produce a locking action I hope will strengthen the
joint.

In fifty years my grandchildren will see them when
they have to restore her again.

Doesn’t
look too bad, but not sure if there is a problem with tying the keel
and stem tightly together; time will tell?

Coat
of paint makes everything better.

It’s
been a while since the last blog so I have a lot to cover.

After removing all the bottom planks and a side strake from
each side
it’s time to start putting some wood back on.

Much of the
fairing of the chine has been completed and now it’s time to replace
the planking to the chine.

I
used a ½ x ½ inch batten to fair the chine

I
replaced several side frame ends and painted them up with
primer.
The
ropes are to hold the plank in position when working alone.

Adjusted to keep the plank just shy of contacting they worked well.

With
a plank in position, caulk is beaded on the top edge and then clamped
in place.

It is then screwed in place with silicon bronze
screws.

I also applied bedding compound between the plank and
frame.

I’m
sorry I missed getting pictures of the spiling batten in place and
transferring the measurements to the
plank.

The
process is explained in, The Boat Building Manual by Robert M. Steward,
and it worked marvelously.

It was a real pleasure to see the
plank sort of roll into position as it was pulled up
tight.

Of course the hardest part to pull in was at the stem and it
needed
some interestingly shaped blocks of wood to set the clamps
square.

Again I have no picture since I was as busy as a one
armed paper hanger trying to get everything fastened.

Here
is the first plank in place.

Both sides needed two planks to
run the full length.

I
glued up two planks to get the width needed by the forward
planks.

For
a better joint I splined them together.

The
forward end of starboard plank and a close up of a couple of patches to
the adjacent plank that were pulled away during the teardown.
Here
is the aft end of the plank to a fashion piece that starts the fantail.

Now
to make a long story longer I will follow up with the garboard
installation and this time I’ll catch the spiling batten in use.

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